Sunday 28 March 2010

On honeymoon reading

As you may know, I’m getting hitched in a few weeks. After the ceremony in New York, we’re going to Anguilla for sun and relaxation... so I’ve been book shopping.

I like a balanced reading diet and would never binge on a single genre; I need meaty classics, chewy biographies, spicy modern fiction, frothy romance, nutty humour and sweet, creamy escapism to sate my palate. So it follows that choosing the perfect holiday selection takes a lot of thought.

Here’s my list so far.

New SheerLuxe blog entry

You can read my latest SheerLuxe blog entry here.

Thursday 25 March 2010

On Book Deux - PLUS an extract...

Book Deux still hasn’t got a confirmed title.

I realise how tedious this is for you guys, and I’m so sorry. The good people at Harper Collins aren’t crazy about my ideas (The Dating Virgin, The Late Starter, The Bastardette, The Single Life – you get the picture, it’s about learning to be single) but they haven’t finalised their suggestions yet. I don’t think my titles are that good either, mind you - titles really aren’t my favourite thing; I secretly wish The Dating Detox was still called The Dating Sabbatical, after all. So I’ve been fatuously and probably irritatingly calling the thing Book Deux, because ‘my second novel' is too prim and well, there aren’t many alternatives.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

On trailers

This Easter, The Dating Detox is becoming a movie.

A very, very short movie.

We’re filming a key scene from the book, and we’re going to put it on the internet as a trailer.

Thursday 18 March 2010

On other writers

The Guardian compiled (oh, marvellous start to a post) a list of Rules For Writers by, yes, famous writers.

All of them have different opinions, expressed very differently. I guess the point is that if you're a writer and you've figured out what works for you, great. If you haven't, give some of these a bash.

Thursday 11 March 2010

A new blog

Guess what? I'm writing a new blog for Sheer Luxe. You can read the first post here.

I'll write a new post every week or so. What's the difference between that blog and this ol' thing? Because this one is about writing, most of the time. And that one's about shopping. And if you've read The Dating Detox, you know how I feel about clothes. (Hint: I really like them.)

Wednesday 10 March 2010

On editing

As usual, the full and very heartfelt caveat: I have only written one book, ‘The Dating Detox’. My second book is out in December this year. I am a literary neophyte. So when I say things like ‘editing is as important as writing, maybe more so’, you have to remember that I am, well, me.

Editing is as important as writing, maybe more so.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

On the search for a new heroine

Brilliant feature from Lucy Mangan at The Guardian.

"Do you know how I long for a… a female figure somewhere, somehow, who is not a total drip, who may have and who is yet not defined by her emotional weakness and other incompetencies. Like a real woman, perhaps."

Choir, preaching to, etc.

Monday 1 March 2010

On writing (again)

A few people have emailed me to ask how I wrote The Dating Detox - how I plotted, and if I have any writing tips.

With novel-writing, as with everything else in life, I specialise in intuitive improvisation (AKA, winging it). So if you read this post and think ‘this chick knows nothing’, you’re right. I don’t.